The palace was situated at the Huerta del Rey neighborhood, located across the Parque de las Moreras on the right bank of the Pisuerga river.

The design, location, endowment, and agricultural and recreational roles of the palace were outlined according to the interests of Don Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma.

Architect de Mora reconverted a simple country home into a luxurious haven of leisure and nature, in the manner of Italian Renaissance villas.

It has within it a square for bull fights that in Court time, were seen some... ".The Palacio de la Ribera was divided into two parts: one part facing north of the main pavilion, which was one of the sides of a closed courtyard with three arcaded galleries, and the other facing south, with a construction that formed an angle with the main pavilion and a garden decorated with parterres.

[2] The palace, perpendicular to the river and on the classical style of the Habsburgs, was located on high grounds and safe from the dreaded flood of the channel.

[1][3] The palace had the first zoo of the city and housed lions, camels, deer, wild pigs, rabbits, bobcats, porcupines, herons, pheasants, turtle doves, and feathered birds.

According to the inventory of 15 November 1607 preserved in the Archivo General de Palacio in Madrid, the palace housed several masterpieces such as the collection of royal portraits of Pantoja de la Cruz and Rubens, paintings by the Carducci brothers, Andrea del Sarto, Veronese, Titian, Bassano, and even a work by Raphael.

The fountain consisted of a pond and a large cup topped by the sculpture "Samson Slaying a Philistine", a masterpiece by Mannerist sculptor Giambologna.

In the year 1623, the sculpture would be gifted by Philip IV, along with a painting by Veronese to the Prince of Wales, the future Charles I of England.

A square wooden tower with a top room and windows covered by blinds made the functions of a large gazebo on the water level that was particularly attractive in the summer time.

The complexity of this pumping water system, entirely new in Spain, was in the same line of engineering work that Cremonese Juanelo Turriano built for Charles V in Toledo on the Tagus river.

One of these ships was the royal galley “San Felipe”, named in the king’s honor and painted in blue and gold tones by Santiago de las Cuevas in 1602.

[5] The Crown lost interest in the palace over time, albeit carrying out small renovations for the visits of Philip IV in 1660, and Charles II in 1690.

[2] With the death of the childless Charles II in 1700 the succession of the throne passed to the Bourbon dynasty and the Palacio de la Ribera met its final decline.